Smizzy Posted March 4, 2005 Share Posted March 4, 2005 This was, once, the season of hope. With March's arrival, the NFL's presumed free-agent elite were let loose on a dreary sporting landscape in desperate need of a big deal. And nothing -- with apologies to pitchers and catchers everywhere -- quite did the job like NFL free agency. Let's face it: The modern NFL season started every March, with the sudden availability of a possible savior or two, supposed impact players who either had satisfied their contractual obligations or been cut by their cap-addled teams. Be they Reggie White (the best free-agent signing ever) or Scott Mitchell (the worst, courtesy of the Lions), these players inspired your teams to line up like smitten tweeners outside TRL's studios, hungry for the chance to take enormous (and usually ill-advised) gambles on big names, other teams' and their own. Your teams romanced them, wined, dined and private-jetted them, throwing crazy money at them as visions of Lombardi Trophies danced in their heads. Sure, in all but a few cases, your teams were overpaying for players who couldn't possibly fulfill their attendant hype and bloated price tags. And yes, your teams were likely detonating their caps for years to come for the false promise of immediate results -- as if one player, in this Patriots age, could be the difference-maker, the missing piece to a championship puzzle. It didn't matter that individual players simply don't equal titles; hell, in the one league more competitively balanced than any other (and it ain't even close), one guy's brilliance doesn't even bring the second wild card. From the perspective of the haplessly lovelorn, this annual emotional splurge -- despite a salary cap designed to protect goosefleshed owners from themselves -- was nothing more than ugly cheating. Not on the rules, of course. No, they were cheating on you, whose ticket prices doubled and parking prices tripled. You, who knew lavishing cap-strapping millions on, say, cornerback Larry Brown or defensive tackle Warren Sapp (sorry, Raider Nation) was a fool's errand. You, who knew the euphoria-producing headlines would be inevitably rued. Which is why, in a year with perhaps the most pedestrian free-agent class ever, most of you should be rejoicing right about now. For starters, the lack of truly big names means most teams finally have figured out what the Patriots and Eagles (to name two) did years ago: economic prudence trumps all, that inking your best players early and wisely almost always beats inking someone else's high-priced flotsam. If you think about it, a league full of healthy, smart teams should reduce free agency to its logical irrelevance -- a glorified day-after-Christmas sale, when you're flush with plenty and thus able to separate real bargains from really bad scams. So if your boys passed on the opportunity to pay wideout Plaxico Burress waaaay too much jing to underperform for you as he has for Pittsburgh for the past five years, smile. If your team declined the chance to make jettisoned cornerbacks Samari Rolle or the injured, 31-year-old Ty Law (three-time Super Bowl champ or not) the overpaid saviors they'll never be, exalt. And if you're not a fan of the Redskins -- who signed underwhelming left tackle Chris Samuels to a seven-year, $47 million deal (with a team-record $15.75 million bonus) -- hug the one you're with. Because it means your team is rational and financially sound and (best of all) honest enough to realize that headlines don't win games, solid 53-man rosters do. http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/2005/writers/josh_elliott/03/03/nfl.market/index.html Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RichardSeymour Posted March 4, 2005 Share Posted March 4, 2005 Agreed. The battle is fought mostly with the lesser names, the bargains, the young guys, and the draft. Pat Williams was a real miss for you guys, but realistically going into FA and signing Fred Smoot, Pat Williams, Derrick Mason, and Jonas Jennings would have been a 160 million dollar mistake. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Gun Of Bavaria Posted March 4, 2005 Share Posted March 4, 2005 Agreed. The battle is fought mostly with the lesser names, the bargains, the young guys, and the draft. Pat Williams was a real miss for you guys, but realistically going into FA and signing Fred Smoot, Pat Williams, Derrick Mason, and Jonas Jennings would have been a 160 million dollar mistake. For almost 1/2 the amount you could have our current QB Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RichardSeymour Posted March 4, 2005 Share Posted March 4, 2005 For almost 1/2 the amount you could have our current QB Pennington's overpaid for his production... but he's still a good NFL QB. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Gun Of Bavaria Posted March 4, 2005 Share Posted March 4, 2005 Pennington's overpaid for his production... but he's still a good NFL QB. I know...... it's not the QB himself that irks me, it's the $64 M within it Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RichardSeymour Posted March 4, 2005 Share Posted March 4, 2005 OK, check that. Woof. That contract is a dog. Check this... Quarterback Jake Delhomme was rewarded Thursday for helping guide the Carolina Panthers to the Super Bowl, getting a five-year contract extension worth $38 million. Delhomme will get $12 million up front, including a signing bonus and option bonuses. Delhomme had one year remaining on his two-year contract. Chad Pennington agreed to a $64 million, seven-year contract extension with the New York Jets on Wednesday that includes $23 million in guaranteed money. A source familiar with the negotiations, speaking on the condition of anonymity, told The Associated Press that Pennington will average $9.172 million a year. The quarterback, entering his fifth season, also receives the second-largest amount of up-front money, behind only Indianapolis quarterback Peyton Manning, who got a $34.5 million signing bonus earlier this year. The total value of Pennington's deal is $64.197 million. These contracts were given out a couple of months apart in the same offseason. Pennington was coming off an iffy season and an injury, and went on to have an iffy season and an injury. Delhomme was coming off a Superbowl run and a solid season and went on to have a very good season with most of his weapons out (3886 yards, 29 TDs, 15 INTs without Stephen Smith, Stephen Davis, DeShaun Foster). Pennington was given a $64 million contract, $23 million guaranteed. Delhomme was given a $38 million contract, $12 million guaranteed. The Jets should have offered Pennington a similar $38 million dollar contract. If he accepted, great. If not make him play out the year, then franchise or transition tag him and negotiate. I don't think Pennington would get $64 million this offseason after last year. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Gun Of Bavaria Posted March 4, 2005 Share Posted March 4, 2005 RS, You're exactly correct here bro. Exactly right. great comparison Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
YJF Posted March 4, 2005 Share Posted March 4, 2005 Agreed. The battle is fought mostly with the lesser names, the bargains, the young guys, and the draft. Pat Williams was a real miss for you guys, but realistically going into FA and signing Fred Smoot, Pat Williams, Derrick Mason, and Jonas Jennings would have been a 160 million dollar mistake. Here's why Pat Williams isn't that big of a miss. He's 33 years old. He only played 58 percent of the snaps last year. Even if you sign Williams, You have to spell him half of the time. He was aided greatly by playing next to Sam Adams. Williams when healthy and well rested, is a force in the middle. But he got his contract and i wouldn't be shocked if he doesn't earn his cash in Minnesota. Ferguson won't be playing next to D-Rob, Ellis and Abraham next year. He's next to Leonardo Carson and a couple of other mediocre no names. Plus he's now gotta play the nose. Hope he enjoys the money and his one to two years with Tuna. Stupid move on his part. Should have went home to mommy for better advice. :wink: Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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